Polycom continues executive shuffle, names EA's Brown to dual CFO, COO role

Polycom (Nasdaq: PLCM), which last week added five new execs to its North American sales team, continued its executive makeover, announcing it has hired Electronic Arts (EA) executive Eric Brown to join the company as CFO and COO, replacing retiring CFO Mike Kourey.

Brown, 46, will manage all financial, operational, and IT functions at Polycom, which are being consolidated under one leader for greater efficiency and scale as the company looks to accelerate its momentum. He'll report to CEO Andy Miller, who joined Polycom in May 2010.

Kourey will retire from his position as EVP & CFO of Polycom in order to pursue other opportunities, including spending more time on corporate boards and on various charitable activities.

Brown helped lead gaming titan EA through rapid change. He was instrumental in leveraging advances in wireless and mobile technologies, similar challenges to those facing Polycom and the UC and videoconferencing industry. He also was part of the leadership team that shifted EA to online distribution of products and services, and streamlined its portfolio to drive profitability.

Previous to EA, Brown was COO and CFO at McAfee, and before that, he was president and CFO of MicroStrategy.

"Eric's strengths and track record in finance, operations, and IT are exactly what Polycom needs at this time of unprecedented growth at the company," Miller said. "With Eric on board, we can put even more focus on innovation, and I look forward to spending additional time with customers and focusing on our long-term strategy. Eric brings deep knowledge of enterprise software and delivering software through mobile, social and cloud-based models, all of which are integral to Polycom's software strategy."

Kourey was with Polycom for 20 years, and was, in fact its seventh employee.

He'll remain with the company until March 7 to provide for a smooth transition, and he will be available as an advisor to the company through May 7.

"Mike has been very helpful to me and the entire Polycom team over the past 21 months since I was appointed to CEO," said Miller. "...We will always consider him a key member of the Polycom family."

Added Kourey: "After 20 years and, culminating with our record year in 2011, this is the perfect time for me to move to the next chapter. As a shareholder, I am confident that Polycom will continue to grow and lead in the exciting video collaboration market."

Last month, Polycom announced fourth-quarter and full-year 2011 financials that prompted analysts to up their target price for the stock. The company saw a 50 percent jump in fourth quarter profits and revenue of $407 million. Revenues for the year were $1.5 billion, and capped 12 sequential quarters of growth and 56 quarters of positive cash flow.

For more:
- see this release and this release

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